A Cubicle Affair
by Kandra Slade
Summary: OFFICE DRAMA! ALL NEW CHARACTERS! Catfights, romance, gossip and some STEAMY affairs! Follow 3 friends through the daily drama of this office! WILL UPDATE FREQUENTLY! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place in an office setting but all the people in the story are my own original characters. Please read, review and ENJOY! **

**Chapter 1**

Lynn lazily walked across the parking lot, pausing for a moment to tilt her chin toward the sky and let the sun hit her face. All around her, seagulls were squawking and probably getting ready to enjoy another warm, July day.

Lynn sighed, jealous of the freedom the birds possessed, and focused on the large, white building in front of her. In a few minutes she'd be inside, setting up camp at her desk for the day.

_Just another day in paradise_ Lynn thought to herself.

She entered Roland University through one of its back entrances and made her way to R108. As she neared the department where she worked, the pace of Lynn's heart began to increase. She was getting closer now, and she swore she could smell his cologne hanging in the air from when he'd arrived a few minutes before.

Lynn swiped her security pass with sweating hands and entered into the front lobby of the office.

"Lynn? Is that you?" He called from inside his executive-sized office.

"Hey! Yeah it's me!" She replied enthusiastically, appearing in his doorway.

"Morning, cutie," he said as he flashed her a smile. She felt the flutter in her stomach as he said it and tried desperately to will the redness in her cheeks away.

"Morning…Rich," she answered. She'd wanted to reply with something equally as endearing as 'cutie' but all she could come up with was his name.

She lingered awkwardly for another moment, and then realized he'd already continued with his work. Feeling lame, Lynn rushed to her cubicle down the hall where she could think about him in private.

Rich Palmer was the Head of Registrarial Services at Roland. Lynn had been in love with him since the first time she'd taken a swim in the depths of his blue eyes. In less romantic words, since her first day working in R108. One other important detail: Rich was married.

Lynn slumped down into her desk chair and waited for the ancient computer to warm up and turn on. Everyone in the department who had _real_ offices seemed to get computer updates monthly. The peasants at the cubicles, however, were using Flinstone-aged systems.

Lynn rested her elbows on her knees and put her face down in her hands. She let her wavy, reddish brown hair hang over her hands, and wondered if she could just hide in the hair cocoon for the rest of the day.

She opened a crack between her fingers to look through and checked the clock on the wall outside her cubicle. 8:32am. Beautiful. She now had a half hour before she was actually supposed to start working. She hated being there early, but still managed to do it every morning just to have her few, brief moments alone with Rich upon entering the office. If she waited until 9am to stroll in like everyone else, she'd have to share his attention with them.

And _this_ morning, he'd called her 'cutie'. A smile overcame her as she recalled the recent memory and she tried to think of an excuse to go back to his office.

"Good morning, sunshine!" A voice bounced happily from down the hall. Lynn looked up just as Ali, her best friend, entered her cubicle.

"Hey you…stop being so bubbly. It's early," Lynn mumbled.

"Oh whatever, grumps! It's not my fault you're here early!" Ali answered, knowing _exactly_ why she was there.

"Okay, okay. I'm happy from now on. See?" Lynn plastered the fakest smile she possibly could on her face. Ali giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Wanna do lunch today?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Sure. Mention it to Nora when she gets in too."

"Sounds good! I'm going up to my glass-enclosed Executive office on the top floor now to boss people around while I lounge at my desk pretending to do work," Ali said with her nose stuck up in the air.

"Yeah, yeah…the day that happens I'm becoming your assistant!" Lynn responded. Ali stuck her tongue out and walked back to her cubicle down the hall.

Lynn was always amazed at how Ali could lift her spirits, even if it were only a little. But as she glanced out the window behind her, Lynn couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by confinement.

_Today's gonna be a long one_ she thought.

Just as she was about to re-enter her thinking-about-Rick trance, the university's Program Advisor, Reba, came bustling down the hall, pausing in front of her cubicle.

"Hello dear. Good morning!" She chimed.

"Morning, Reba. How was your date with Charles last night?"

"It was just divine!" She answered, smiling sweetly. Lynn grinned back and Reba continued down the hall.

She was an older woman, probably in her 70s. She lived alone and Charles, her Pomeranian, kept her company. Reba often spoke about Charles as if the little dog were her husband. It was sweet, actually.

Reba had been a Program Advisor at the school since it opened nearly twenty years before. Lynn wondered if in twenty years, she'd still be sitting at the same desk, answering calls from distressed students needing help. The thought made shudder involuntarily.

It wasn't that she hated her job; she liked helping students. It was just…a little tedious. She got so many phone calls about the same things, she sometimes wondered if she should just record herself saying all the standard answers and place it on her voicemail. Of course if she did that, the university would probably have no reason to keep her job…which meant no way for her to see Rich every day.

_Yikes_ she thought, and pushed the voicemail idea out of her mind. _Endless phone calls it is then._

Lynn signed in to her MSN Messenger account as she opened the other necessary programs and databases she'd need throughout the morning. Immediately a box popped up in the corner of her screen indicating that Rich had just instant messaged her.

**Rich says: hey doll…can you come to my office for a minute? it's important…**

Without even replying, Lynn jumped up from her desk and walked straight to Rich's office as if she were on a mission. As she approached the doorway, she smoothed down her pink and white flowered skirt and tousled her hair a bit to give it that "natural" look.

"Hey, Rich! You wanted to see me?" She asked, her eyes lit up with anticipation.

"Yeah, have a seat. I need you to do something REALLY important for me," he told her with a worried tone in his voice.

"Rich, whatever it is, I'll do it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Rich instantly sighed with relief when he heard the reassurance in Lynn's voice.

"Lynny…you are always the one who saves my butt," Rich said thoughtfully.

Her mind raced. What could he need her for that was so important? Did he need an assistant on an upcoming out-of-town trip? Was he under a lot of stress and needed her to stay late and help him out? Her heart was swelling at the thought of it.

"Me and Maggie got in another fight just now but I think this time she's more crazy super pissed at me than usual. Would you mind dealing with it? I don't want to go home and have her be angry at me later," he explained.

Like a deflating balloon, her heart sunk to the floor. She looked up and saw his desperate, helpless, gorgeous eyes staring back at her and she knew she couldn't say no.

"Of course. I'll take care of it," she said quietly, trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

"You're an angel. You're MY angel. Thanks Lynn." And with that, he'd turned his attention back to his computer.

Lynn dragged herself back to her desk and for the second time that day, slumped heavily into her chair. This was not the first time Rich had asked her to solve a problem between him and his wife, Maggie.

Last time she had sent flowers to Maggie's office with a handwritten note. She'd written the note in her best Rich-style scrawl and Maggie had never known the difference. In fact, she'd loved the flowers and found the note very thoughtful.

Lynn smirked to herself, taking satisfaction in knowing the truth behind the little note. This time though, she'd have to use her creativity and come up with something a little more original. Flowers and a note don't work two times in a row, after all.

Before starting the impromptu assignment for Rich, Lynn did a quick check of her email and voicemail. Zero new emails, zero new messages. _I'm so popular_, she thought as she started pulling up Rich's files.

She was just about to start digging when she felt something small hit her in the back.

"What the hell..." she said as she whipped around in her chair. Sitting on the floor behind her was a tiny bunched up piece of paper. She quietly laughed, suddenly realizing who had thrown in.

"Heyyyy Anthony," she said, peaking around the wall into the cubicle next to her. Sure enough, Anthony and Maya were sitting there, already staring in her direction.

"Hey loser," Anthony teased.

"Hey Lynn," Maya said, looking up at her warmly.

Anthony was a few years older than Lynn and liked to bug her. Ever since she'd started working in R108, they'd had a big brother/little sister relationship.

Maya worked upstairs in the Financial department, but was often down in Anthony's office hanging out. They'd been dating for a few years, and it was no secret to anyone in the office.

"What did you guys do last night?" Lynn asked for either them to answer.

"We went and saw the new Batman movie. It was soooo good," Maya said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. But Lynn noticed right after that she was staring lovingly at Anthony, obviously not caring what movie they went to see at all.

"It was SICK Lynn. You have to go see it," Anthony said very seriously.

"Uh huh…well maybe I'll wait for the rental," Lynn answered, only half interested.

Anthony grinned and turned to face Maya.

"You liked it…you know you did."

"I did not! It was dumb…well Batman was hot…"

"Maybe you should date _him_ then!"

"Whatever!"

Lynn grinned at Anthony and Maya bickering back and forth as they got lost in their own world, then sat back down at her desk. That's what she wanted. Someone she could tease lovingly and argue with about dumb little things but then know at the end of the day she would end up in that person's arms.

Instead, she was opening pictures of Rich and Maggie's first vacation together, compiling the necessary materials for creating a sweet, but not over-the-top apology to send her on his behalf.

As she clicked through each of the pictures (Maggie and Rich standing next to a palm tree, Maggie and Rich standing on the beach, Maggie and Rich kissing under a waterfall), she could feel the tears in her eyes begin to spill down her cheeks.

Lynn stifled a sob as hers and Ali's other best friend, Nora, happened to walk into her cubicle.

Nora took one look at the current photo displayed on Lynn's screen, Maggie and Rich holding giant Margarita glasses, and swung her friend's chair around to face her.

"Lynn…he is evil for making you do this," Nora whispered, wiping Lynn's tears from her cheeks.

"He's not evil…he doesn't know any better!"

"Stop defending him, hunny," she coaxed, pulling up a chair beside Lynn.

"I can't help it, Nor. How can I say no to him when he asks me to help?" She asked, genuinely hoping for a good answer. Nora put her arm around Lynn's shoulders and squeezed.

"You just do, Lynn. You just say, 'No thank you, Rich. I will not help make you and your wife happy when really I want her to walk out into oncoming traffic' and that's that!" Lynn giggled as she imagined herself actually saying this to Rich.

"You know she's probably a nice girl. She probably has no idea that she married such a dummy," Lynn said, half trying to convince herself.

"Now that's a good attitude. You remember that while you're finishing whatever ridiculous thing you're working on," Nora said, getting up to leave. "In fact, make it good because this is the last time you're going to say yes to him. Right?"

"Yeah…sure."

"RIGHT?"

"Right! Okay…never saying yes again…got it." This time Nora was satisfied with Lynn's answer and started walking toward her own desk.

"We'll talk more at lunch!" She called from down the hall.

_Yeah, if lunch ever comes, _she thought woefully. _Two more hours, and one dumb apology gift, comin' right up. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

By lunch time, Lynn was a holding a photo printed in black and white of Maggie and Rich sitting on a tropical beach. In the sand beside them was a sloppy heart that one of them had drawn. The wind was blowing Maggie's dark brown curls everywhere and she was laughing at something Rich must have said. His dirty blonde hair was brushed lazily across his forehead and he was staring at her with….love.

In the corner of the photo, Lynn had written with a fine-tipped silver marker.

**Maggie…**

**Look how happy we are. This is how I want to feel forever. **

**I'm sorry and I love you always,**

**Rich xo**

Lynn's heart ached but she knew the simplicity of the photo would make Maggie happy. If Maggie was happy, Rich was happy. She sighed, because she had nothing better to do, then brought the picture to the mail room to be sent off in the Express Post.

On her way back, she slipped into the connected cubicles that Nora and Ali shared. She'd always been a little jealous that they got to hide away there together gossiping all day while she was stuck in a tiny cubicle on her own.

"PSSST! Get back to work!" Lynn hissed jokingly.

"Excuse me? I think it's lunch time, thank you very much," Ali said pretending to have attitude. Nora and Lynn looked at each other and mouthed "What-ev-er!" to each other for Ali to see. Then the three girls laughed and got up to leave for lunch.

As they walked past Rich's office, Lynn stole a quick peak inside.

_He's probably going to stay in there for the whole lunch hour…all alone in the office…maybe I could stay…_

Ali and Nora exchanged a worried glance and then each linked an arm through Lynn's. If she needed her friends to distract her any time, it was now.

After practically dragging Lynn outside the building, the three of them headed toward Nora's car.

"SHOTGUN!" Lynn yelled and ran toward the front passenger seat of the dark blue four-door. Ali rolled her eyes at the childish tradition Lynn had always carried on, but was relieved to see her friend acting like herself again.

"So where to?" Nora asked once all of them had piled into the rusting VW Jetta.

"Feel like being students today? Let's go to Subway!" Ali yelled. Lynn nodded with approval, and Nora took it as her cue to go.

The Subway near the school offered a special "Roland Deal" to students. By showing their Roland I.D. card, students could get a large sub for the price of a small one plus a drink. Nora, Lynn and Ali had gotten Anthony to make them student cards the year before and they'd been using them at Subway ever since.

They all ordered their subs and Ali and Nora finished paying. When it was Lynn's turn, she realized she didn't have her fake student card with her.

"Shit you guys I forgot mine!" Lynn whispered.

"It's okay just tell him you want the Roland Deal…you'll be able to get away with it," Nora assured her.

"Hi, yes I would like the Roland Deal please," Lynn told the man at the cash.

"Student card. I need," he uttered back.

"Um, Sir I don't have it with me…see yesterday I got chased by these crazy 16-year-old girls who wanted to seem older so they ambushed me and stole my student card and now I don't have one…" Lynn stammered, then bit her lip with fake concern.

"Fine. I give deal this time. Next time you bring card," the man said, glaring at her.

"Thank you!" Lynn said, this time with a genuine smile.

The three of them spent the car ride back to Roland impersonating the poor man and congratulating Lynn on her Oscar-winning performance.

Still laughing as they exited the car, the girls made their way to their private lunch spot. It wasn't really private, but as far as they were concerned, the spot belonged to them. They'd eaten lunch on the same back steps behind Roland nearly every day since the three of them had become friends (assuming the weather was nice). Between noon and 1pm when they were on lunch, the sun shone perfectly, directly above these steps.

As they neared their lunch haven, a look of concern washed over Ali's face.

"Guys, are those people on our steps?" She asked. Nora and Lynn both squinted to make out the figures in the distance.

"Yeah there are definitely people there." Nora confirmed. Lynn, having fairly bad eyesight even with her contacts on, took Nora's word for it.

"That's fine you guys. We'll just tell them they need to move," Lynn said matter-of-factly as they approached the steps. But what they saw was not just _anyone_ hanging out there. It was the awful, the evil, the DREADED…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Ruth!" Nora shouted with sarcastic enthusiasm. "Of all places. The steps? Really?" She said with a fake, cheerful smile still plastered on her face.

The queen of the evil witch clan, also known as Ruth, smirked with satisfaction at her sidekick, Melia.

"Oh we're sorry girls...is this where YOU usually sit?" Ruth said, obviously enjoying herself. "Yeah! Is this where you sit?!" Melia added. Ruth shot her an icy look as if to say, I like you, but only when you don't speak.

Nora allowed her fake smile to disappear from her face. "Listen. There's a whole campus full of places to sit and eat. Let us have our steps," she said seriously.

Ruth and Melia looked at each other, then resumed eating their lunches with no intention of moving.

"That's it," Nora mumbled under her breath. She marched toward the witches and began pouring her bottle of fruit punch onto Ruth's head.

"AHHHHHH! You bitch!" Ruth screeched. With that, she was up from the stairs and marching angrily away. Melia continued to sit on the step beside what was now a fruit punch puddle, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"MELIA! LET'S GO!" Ruth shouted back at her. Suddenly registering what was going on, Melia jumped up and scooted after Ruth like a puppy.

As soon as the witches' backs were to them, the three girls burst into laughter.

"Did you actually just do that?!" Lynn laughed. Ali had by this time dropped to her knees, laughing so hard she couldn't even make a sound.

"I sure did," Nora said confidently. "And she's going to get me back at some point for it. BUT DID YOU SEE THE LOOK ON HER FACE?!" Nora yelled, causing all three of them to yet again erupt into laughter.

Lynn enjoyed the rest of the lunch, despite the fact that thoughts of Rich were constantly blowing in and out of her head with the summery breeze. As 1pm approached, the full-on sick feeling had returned to her stomach.

"Lynny bynny, you look sad again," Ali said, her expression thoughtful.

"Yeah..." she didn't know what to say. Her friends were constantly having to put up with her extreme mood changes. "You know you guys are the best for not just ignoring me completely."

Nora and Ali glanced at each other with concern, as they often did whenever Lynn started thinking about Rich.

"Alright we're walking in the back door and not passing his office," Nora said with authority. Lynn looked at her with exasperation in her eyes, then realized it was probably for the best.

"Okay I guess that's a good idea," Lynn answered compliantly, trying to hide her feeling of defeat.

Lynn had managed to get back from lunch and spend the first couple hours of the afternoon hiding in her cubicle undisturbed by Rich. She was thankful to be busy with calls and paperwork if it kept her distracted and helped the time pass.

But as the afternoon came to a close, Lynn's steady flow of work was interrupted by a sudden presence just outside her cubicle. She looked up and saw one of the tech guys standing there, staring at her awkwardly.

"Umm, hi. Sorry if you've been standing there for awhile...I didn't realize anyone was there," Lynn said quickly.

"Oh that's okay," the guy said with an easy smile. "You seemed busy so I didn't want to bother you."

Lynn looked at him expectantly, waiting to find out what he wanted. He looked into her eyes for a few moments saying nothing, then shook his head as if suddenly remembered why he was there.

"Right! So, I heard you needed a new computer. They uh, sent me down here..." he paused awkwardly, then reached for the cart beside him and motioned to the new computer. "So can I um..."

"Uh, sure," Lynn answered, wondering what she had recently done to deserve the computer god's generosity.

He stepped into her cubicle as Lynn was getting up from her chair to move. But instead of getting out of his way, she accidentally bumped her knee into his and stumbled against the side of her desk. He quickly reached forward to grab her arm but instead of steadying her, he planted his hand directly on her butt.

They both looked down at his hand in horror, and before he could pull himself together enough to remove it, Lynn jumped passed him out into the hallway.

Within seconds she had ducked into Ali's and Nora's joined cubicle, letting her embarrassment cover her face in a dark red flush.

Ali looked surprised to her. "Hey girl! Wait...why are you blushing so damn hard?" Ali asked.

"He...touched...my butt," Lynn stammered.

"He WHAT? Who?" Nora, questioned, now interested.

"The guy...the techy guy. He was at my desk and then he was reaching for the computer and I was moving but I was in his way and then..."

"And then he touched your butt!" Ali half shouted.

"SHHHHH!!!" Lynn said aggressively, darting her eyes down the hallway to make sure nobody had heard.

"So, whatever! You don't even know the guy! He's just some nervous, awkward techy guy who was so blinded by your beauty that he subconsciously just had to touch your butt!" Ali teased. But Lynn was hardly amused.

"Well, by the sounds of it he'll be in my office for awhile so I'm going to just hang out here for a bit," Lynn said as she dropped her head down on the edge of Ali's desk.

Both Nora and Ali stifled a laugh as they turned back to their computers.

_Well at least I'll have a new computer,_ Lynn thought to herself. _Not that I have any desire to ever come to work again. _


	5. Chapter 5

Sam had so far been having a pretty good day. He woke up a few minutes before his alarm had gone off that morning, which he loved because the blaring sound of his clock radio was never pleasant to wake up to.

His walk across the parking lot to work had been rushed because his bus had dropped him off late that morning. But he still managed to notice that the air was warm and friendly. It had been a beautiful summer morning.

He'd arrived at his desk just after 9am. Technically he'd been late, but technicalities were never a big issue in the tech department at Roland, strangely enough.

He'd been greeted by Maya Wong, the petite 19-year-old Japanese girl who also worked in the tech department. She was pleasant enough and sometimes she attempted to flirt with Sam, but he really had no interest in her. He gave her a smile and a nod, and she proceeded to her own desk.

Arriving seconds after him that morning was his boss, Mathan Kanakyum. Mathan was allowed to be late in the mornings because the office was his wife and the computers were his children – he often stayed with his family late into the night, working.

"Good morning Sam," Mathan said pleasantly.

"Morning buddy, how's it goin'?" Sam asked.

"Alright, I guess. Was working late last night and ended up falling asleep on my desk. Woke up and went home for a few hours around 3am," he answered. Sam grinned and shook his head.

"You know if it's really that busy, you can give more work to Maya and I...we don't mind," Sam said as Mathan slipped through the doorway of his office. But he knew it wasn't really that busy. Mathan was just happier at the office than anywhere else.

The rest of Sam's morning had progressed similar to this. He did his work, completely content with fixing different electronic equipment and programming new computers. The job wasn't a challenge, but he liked working with his hands and rarely had to worry about being socially accepted. In the tech department everyone was laid back and friendly and jeans and a t-shirt were considered respectable.

At lunch Sam left Mathan in his office working and Maya with her feet up on her desk chatting animatedly into her cell phone. Sometimes he liked having company at lunch, but he was perfectly satisfied on his own.

After enjoying leftover lasagne from dinner the night before, Sam decided to walk around outside for the rest of his lunch hour, enjoying as much sun as possible. He noticed Lynn in the distance, the redheaded girl from R108.

He sighed as he watched her with her friends. She always seemed distant from them. Even now as the three of them stood there laughing, Lynn seemed distracted by something else. He wanted so badly to comfort her, to introduce himself and romantically sweep her off her feet.

But, that was unrealistic so Sam carried on his walk and pushed Lynn from his mind. He'd always been good at forgetting the difficult things and focusing on the simple, less painful side of life. Everything was easier that way.

That afternoon, Sam had overheard Mathan in his office, talking on the phone to someone about replacing some old computers. But it wasn't until he heard Mathan say "R108" that Sam jumped to his feet and appeared in his doorway.

"Oh! Sam. Perfect timing. Rich wants us to start replacing all the older computers in R108. You think you could start today?" Mathan asked. Sam tried to look casual as he responded.

"Yeah, no problem," he answered, smiling as he began filling an empty cart with new equipment.

He arrived minutes later at Lynn's desk to find her lost in her work. He opened his mouth to speak but was mesmerized by her focus and determination. He didn't want to disrupt her.

Suddenly she looked up in surprise, not realizing until now that he'd been standing there.

"Umm, hi. Sorry if you've been standing there for awhile...I didn't realize anyone was there," she said sweetly. Sam couldn't help but smile down at her.

"Oh that's okay," he said, still grinning stupidly. "You seemed busy so I didn't want to bother you."

She obviously hadn't been told she was getting a new computer, and Sam was happy to be the one to bring the good news.

As he stepped into her office feeling like a knight in shining technology armour, she got up from her chair and they bumped knees. She stumbled and he tried to reach for her arm.

Suddenly, before he could see what was happening, he realized his hand had completely missed her arm and had landed on her back side.

Panic swept through him and before he could even pull his hand away, she had managed to glide passed him into the hall. He lifted the hand of the devil and smacked it to his forehead, furious with himself for ruining the precious moment.

With so few opportunities to see her, much less _speak_ to her, he couldn't believe he'd actually blown it.

He sat down in her desk chair, inhaling deeply and smelling the light, flowery scent of her perfume still hanging in the air. He was beside himself with embarrassment and could only imagine how violated Lynn probably felt. Again he smacked himself in the head. Stupid clumsiness.

Slowly, Sam collected her monitor, computer and keyboard and replaced it with updated equipment. He had hoped if he took his time, she'd come back to her desk before he had to leave. But after 30 minutes of stretching out the task as long as possible, Lynn still hadn't returned.

Feeling rejected, Sam got up and pushed the cart carrying Lynn's old computer toward the R108 door. As he passed a cubicle where two girls were working on the way out, he noticed Lynn was in there too, with her head resting on one of the desks.

He slowed for a second, hoping she'd look up, but she didn't move.

_Good one, Sam, _he told himself. _Now you'll never have a chance. _And he left the office.


End file.
